Louis van Gaal warned Erik ten Hag of issue he would face at Manchester United

Erik ten Hag has a multitude of issues to fix at Manchester United but some things are beyond his control and Louis van Gaal had warned his compatriot of problems his head in the club hierarchy.

Consecutive 3-0 home defeats by Manchester City and Newcastle mean United have now endured their worst start to a season for 61 years. Speculation is now growing as to whether Ten Hag can turn around his side's fortunes on the pitch but amid the fallout, plenty of focus has been on the bigger picture.

Gary Neville has been among several former Reds to look above Ten Hag, with those eyes generally glaring towards the Glazers. The American family have overseen a decade of failure since Sir Alex Ferguson's 2013 retirement, running United like anything but a football club.

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Van Gaal is one of the many managers to try and follow Ferguson, with the no-nonsense Dutchman lifting the FA Cup in 2016 before being sacked the following summer. He sent a stark warning to his compatriot when links first began to surface last year.

"Erik ten Hag is a great coach and that is always good for Manchester United," Van Gaal said in March 2022. "But Manchester United are a commercialclub, so it's a difficult choice for a coach. He'd better go to a football club. I'm not going to advise him, he'll call me himself. But he must choose a football club and not a commercial club."

Ten Hag has made no attempt to evade blame for United's dismal start, admitting after Wednesday's defeat by Newcastle that his side have simply not been good enough. Some of his selection decisions have frustrated supporters who believe failure is being rewarded.